Yi Sung-ke, founder of the Yi Dynasty, retired to the city after a successful palace coup by his son Yi Bang-won in 1400. Though his son sent envoys to reconcile, his father had them all killed. A modern Korean expression, King's envoy to Hamheung (Hamheungchasa), refers to a person who goes off on a journey but is never heard from again.[3]

The city was heavily destroyed (80–90%) during the Korean War. From 1955–1962, Hamhŭng was the object of a large-scale program of reconstruction and development by East Germany including the build-up of various construction-related industries and intense training measures for Korean construction workers, engineers, city planners and architects. The project ended two years earlier than scheduled and with a low profile because of the Sino-Soviet conflict and the opposing positions that North Korea and East Germany took on that issue.[4]

From 1960 to 1967, Hamhŭng was administered separately from South Hamgyŏng as a Directly Governed City (Chikhalsi), but before 1960, and since 1967, the city has been part of South Hamgyŏng Province.

The North Korean famine of the 1990s appears to have had a disproportionate effect on the people of Hamhung. Andrew Natsios, a former aid worker, USAID Administrator, and author of The Great North Korean Famine, described Hamhung as "the city most devastated by [the] famine."[5] Contemporary published reports from The Washington Post[6] and Reuters[7] describe the presence of numerous fresh graves on the surrounding hillsides, and report that many of Hamhung's children were stunted by malnutrition. One survivor claimed that more than 10% of the city's population died, with another 10% fleeing the city in search of food.[8] Despite previously being closed to foreigners, foreign nationals can now travel to Hamhung through the few approved North Korean tour operators."[9]

There is speculation that Hamhung, with its high proportion of chemists and the site of a chemical-industrial complex built by the Japanese during World War II, is the center for North Korea's methamphetamine production.[10]

Hamhŭng is an important chemical industry center in the DPRK. It is an industrialcity which serves as a major port for North Korean foreign trade. Production includes textiles (particularly vinalon), metalware, machinery, refined oil and processed food.

Hamhung, Haunted City, Compares newly revealed Google Earth imagery of Hamhung—imagery which reveals many of the hills around the city to be packed with graves—with published reports of severe famine in Hamhung during the 1990s.

Young Pioneer Tours, Information on the opening up of Hamhung to tourists, and details on tours there.